November | 2012 | CurryPuffy's Xanga Site

Month: November 2012

Trapped in NYC - After we finished Sunday’s dinner at Per Se, we were to spend the next five days waiting out the storm and secured a flight back to LA. It was a mix of uncertainty and excitement since this was the first time our vacation plans has been derailed. On Monday night, it was quite windy with light rain, most of the shops were closing early. We managed to find three restaurants near our hotel, and booked an early dinner at a French restaurant. Then on Tuesday night, all but one restaurant stayed open, it was Joe’s Shanghai, and I had the most juicy siao long bao there. What a treat! (The following are a recap from Monday through Wednesday).

Anticipating the arrival of super storm Sandy, the hotel delivered this to our room…..

Just in case of power failure, flash light, candles, light stick, bottles of water, Ladurée chocolates…..

Carrot Soup, perfect for warming up for this chilly and stormy night…..

Fig Salad…..

Seafood risotto with chunks of shrimp, cod, calamari, etc., cooked to a very creamy consistency…..

Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant – Hot & steamy crab meat & pork siao long bao, perfect antidote for cold weather……

Peek inside the soupy siao long bao….bits of crab meat and pork…..

Onion pancake…..

NYC Eats @ Momofuku Má Pêche- Wednesday night, the weather has calmed down. We discovered all of Lower Mahattan has no electricity and restaurant choices were limited. Luckily, Momofuku Má Pêche is located close to us at Midtown and was open for business. The restaurant was started in 2010 and the name literally means “mother peach”. This is Chef David Chang’s more upscale project in terms of location – Midtown and beneath the Chambers Hotel. The seats at the restaurant have backs to them and are comfortable, there are plenty of space too. A Milk Bar is also present near the reception area of the restaurant, very convenient to grab a sweet treat after meals. Compared to Chef Chang’s other restaurants, this one is the largest and the first one not located in the East Village.

Menu…..

Cocktails – (Right) Seven spice sour, togarashi-infused momofuku sake, yuzu, lime, (Left) Côte de Pêche, aperol, Lillet Blanc, lemon verbena…..

Oysters in half shell…..

Trout roe, rice, jalapeño, quinoa, crémé fraiche…..

Steamed bun, lobster, maitake, chicharrón…..

Mushrooms with scallion, agedashi, masago…..

Pan Fried Porgy (Long Island, NY) with hot sauce, fennel, lime, and corn bread…..

Fennel served in a separate dish…..

Dessert from the house, Flourless chocolate cake, coconut shavings, Thai basil and coffee syrup…..

Overall, the dishes are very similar to the Ssäm Bar. But the bonus here is the presence of a raw bar, offering oysters and clams, shrimp and Alaskan king crab. If I had the chance to dine here again, I would order a huge plate of fruits de mer, plus a few of the small plates and then the duck. As for tonight’s meal, W and I are very satisfied and happy as a clam.

(Many thanks to W again for snapping these luscious foodie photos)

Momofuku Má Pêche | 15 West 56th Street (Fifth Avenue), New York, NY | (212) 757-5878 | momofuku.com
11:03 am

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NYC Eats @ Per Se - Sunday night was supposed to be our last night in New York, and so we booked a table at Per Se for a “grand finale”. But because of super storm Sandy, we got news on Sunday morning that our Monday flight back home has been cancelled. What to do? Well, not much we could do regarding the situation but just to have dinner first and then worry about that later.

Now back to Per Se. This restaurant is owned by chef Thomas Keller who is also involved in the restaurants French Laundry, Ad Hoc and Bouchon in Napa Valley, California. Why did the chef name the restaurant “Per Se”? The name actually came from the ampersand symbol “&”. The word “ampersand” is a contraction of the words “and per se and”, chef Keller also found out that the phrase “per se” was Latin for “by itself”. This captured what he wanted the restaurant to be, something that was unique from French Laundry, but that did not lose sight of where it came from. Per Se opened in February 2004, occupying quite a secluded spot on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center, at Columbus Circle.

Per Se’s entrance, with its pair of iconic blue doors, evidently modeled after the blue doors at the French Laundry. But as we approach, we realize that these are just a facade, glass doors to either side just swoosh open, inviting us in. These decorative doors pay homage to the Laundry, by making them fake, the idea was to signal that Per Se was to be its own restaurant.

Tonight’s Chef’s Tasting Menu. Each night, Per Se offers at least two menus of French-influenced contemporary American fare, one Chef’s Tasting Menu and a Tasting of Vegetables, each is nine-courses, with pricing inclusive of service and non-alcoholic beverages…..

At the bottom is fleur de sel butter from Vermont, on the right is sweet butter from California; (center) there are six different kinds of salt to choose from…..

Canapé 1 – Gruyère Gougères, petit delicious gougères, with creamy Gruyère cheese in the batter…..

Canapé 2 – Salmon Coronets, smoked salmon coronets/crowns flavoured with sweetbreads, the cone made with black sesame tuile with a crunchy texture…..

Hmmm…..what’s next??

Oysters and Pearls – “Sabayon” of pearl tapioca, with Island Creek oysters and Sterling white sturgeon caviar…..

Salad of Compressed Apples – “Pain Perdue”, braised chestnuts, celery greens, spiced cider and sorrel…..

Hot Smoked Élevages Périgord Moulard Duck Foie Gras, crispy oats, green tomato relish, Hakurei turnlips, red onion rings and watercress…..

Colombia River Sturgeon, pickled Cipollini onions, acorn squash, toasted hazelnuts, garden máche and coffee emulsion…..

Hand Harvested Maine Sea Scallop, “Cherry Bomb” radishes, salsify root, pea tendrils, and mushrooms ” à la Grecque”…..

Diamond H Ranch Quail Breast, slow baked beets, petite lettuces, Niçoise olive vinaigrette…..

Herb Roasted Elysian Fields Farm Lamb, “Petite Salé”, heirloom carrots, jingle bell peppers, medjool dates, pumpkin seeds and curry jus…..

“Toma Wasler”, “spätzle”, California pistachios, broccoli “Florettes”, and Burgundy mustard…..

“Prickly Pear”, “biscuit cuillère”, limoncello, “panna cotta”, pear soda and white wine granité…..

Butterscotch “Pudding” , caramelized popcorn, chocolate custard, whipped Earl Grey tea, and “Beurre de Paris”…..

Mignardises 1 – ice cream sandwich…..

Mignardises 2 – assorted macarons, salted caramels, chocolate truffles, walnut nougat…..

Mignardises 3 – assorted house made chocolates…..

Complimentary dessert – cappacino ice cream, whipped crémé, sugar donuts in the background…..

Cookies, chocolate filled…..

The entire dinner lasted almost 3.5 hours, the food was delicious and service was flawless, to say the least. At $295 per person, before wine (service included), this level of dining definitely does not come cheap. Yet, I left with a feeling that I would never eat that well again, or be treated to such sublime service.

Because of the storm situation, we were “trapped” in NYC for the next few days…….

Per Se | 10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 | 212-823-9335 | www.perseny.com

NYC Eats @ Jean-Georges - On the second night (Saturday), we headed over to Jean-Georges, the flagship restaurant of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Chef Vongerichten commands no less than 18 restaurants around the globe, concentrated in New York. According to one food critic, Chef Vongerichten’s Jean-Georges restaurant trades “the richness of traditional French cooking for a different kind of intensity,” it eliminates “thick sauces and embraces oils and broths, preferring them for their lightness and for the way they release their scents, like the perfume of lemon grass that rose from a bath of Asian herbs and seeds around a delicately baked lobster tartine.”

The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the 52-story Trump International Hotel and Tower, near Columbus Circle, at the Upper West Side. When you stepped inside the building, a set of sliding glass doors leads to the Nougatine, which is the more casual (and noisier) restaurant. Then, you have to walk past a few tables in the Nougatine and arrive at another door which leads into the more formal Jean-Georges dinning room. Once seated, I notice servers in white/beige uniforms tread from one table to another in a graceful manner, delivering drinks and plates of food, it appears they are doing the whole sequence in a synchronized pattern. The interior of the restaurant is done in a monotone colour palatte of white, gray and dark wood finishes, creating a soothing setting with elegant undertones.

A portion of the food menu, Assortment of Signature Dishes was my choice…..

W goes for the Autumn Menu…..

I had the cherry-yuzu soda, while W had this sliced figs and martini cocktail…..

Amuse bouche, (top right) warm cauliflower-cumin hibiscus soup, (bottom right) diced cucumbers in pumpkin jus on petit cracker, (left) salmon sashimi, wasabi crème…..a trio of amuses to start up, first the soup, which was richly infused with cauliflower flavour and then the finish was a bit tangy and spicy too; the salmon was quite typical in texture with the wasabi crème kicking in some spicy taste; finally the diced cucumbers and petit cracker refreshened the palate with a crispness bite…..

Egg caviar, the temperature of the egg yolk inside was perfectly done, amazing when mixed with the coolness of the crème fraîche, ending the bite with the zesty and spicy caviar, excellent…….

Egg toast caviar and herbs, the salty tang of the caviar mixing wonderfully with the heavy texture of the egg yolk, while the crisp toast and herbs provide some balance in between…..

Sea scallops, Caramelized cauliflower, Caper-Raisin emulsion, the scallops were cooked tender which paired well with the crunchy cauliflower, linked to a good finish with the mildly tart caper-raisin sauce…..

Japanese Snapper Carpaccio with Ginger, White Radish and Olive Oli, an Asian influenced dish, here the twist is the ginger providing a spicy contrast to the fish…..

Young Garlic Soup with Thyme, Sautéed Frog Legs, the soup was a bit light and sweet to the taste, with a slight hint of garlic, the frog legs tasted like chicken, which helped to add savoriness to the whole experience…..

A finger bowl with a faint floral scent was brought out after the frog legs, very nice indeed…..

Grilled Foie Gras Dumplings, Port Glazed Figs and Passion Fruit, here is another Asian oriented dish presented in vegetarian format, the sweetness of the figs combined with the passion fruit provided a sumptuous burst of flavors while biting into the dumpling…..

Turbot with Château Chalon Sauce, this light bodied wine based sauce has a mildly rich “eggy” taste, and paired well in flavour to the tender turbot, while the vegetables on top added some texture contrasting the fish…..

Artic Char, Spiced Jade Emulsion and Tender Celeriac, artic char is a fish with a salmon-like texture, while the Jade Emulsion is actually a creamy version of green curry, overall the fish is overwhelmed by the spicy green curry……

Lobster Tartine, Lemon Grass and Fenugreek Broth, Pea Shoot, this is by far the best tasting dish, with the lobster meat cooked very tender, lemongrass and fenugreek hinting to an Indian style flair, the pea shoot adding to a light vegetal flavour…..

Steamed Maine Lobster, Squash and Yuzu Vinaigrette, very similar in texture to the Lobster Tartine, but the vegetal flavour is replaced by the fruitiness flavours of yuzu and squash, a very delicious combination …..

Broiled Squab, Onion Compote, Corn Pancake with Foie Gras, the bird was juicy and nicely cooked but a bit too rare to my taste, foie gras was seared with a heavy richness, together with the corn pancake, made this dish quite overwhelming, what a heavy & grand finale of this savory “signature dish tasting menu”…..

Roasted Venison, Quince-Madeira Purée, Broccoli Raab and Cabrales Foam, the venison meat was cooked to medium rare, tender yet lean, deliciously paired with the minty and peppery broccoli raab, with the purée infused some sweet cherry-like flavour to the final bite, what a nice combination of flavours…..

Chocolate Dessert Tasting, four part tasting including Jean-Georges Chocolate Cake & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream…..

The Jean-George Chocolate Cake and vanilla bean ice cream, when I sliced into the cake, chocolate lava just gushes out…..

The October Dessert Tasting with a four part dessert….

After dessert, a series of mignardises were brought to our table. First off, these petite fruit flavoured sherbet tarts…..

Then, the chocolates…..

And then, macarons and gélees…..

Finally, vanilla marshmallows…..

The entire course took almost four hours, the dishes were very well presented and full of bold flavours. It was a very enjoyable dinner and we would not hesitate to come back again for another unforgettable culinary experience!

(My hearty hugs to W for taking these photos, under extreme dim lighting. The first photo was from the restaurant archives.)

Jean Georges | 1 Central Park West, New York | (212) -299-3900 | www.jean-Georges.com

NYC Eats @ Momofuku - For our first night in New York City, we ventured to the Momofuku Ssäm Bar located in the East Village. The Ssäm Bar opened its doors in 2006 and has been listed as one of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2009 (S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants) . It belongs to a group of award winning restaurants started by chef David Chang. “Momofuku” could be translated from Japanese as “lucky peach”, though Chef Chang has written that the name is “an indirect nod” to Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant ramen. Chang also suggested it’s not an accident he chose a word that sounds like an English curse word!

Momofuku Ssäm Bar originally had the concept of an Asian style burrito bar (ssäm is Korean for wrap). After experiencing troubles, Chef Chang decided to change the style of the menu, away from the burrito-centered cuisine and eventually this change led Ssäm Bar to success. The menu contains an assortment of dishes with a vast ethnic divergence – such as platters of artisanal American hams next to a tangle of Sichuan-style beef tendon alongside a hanger steak with a romesco sauce. As for our dinner, we chose dishes with an all Asian flavour…..

A narrow dinning hall with wood panelled walls, waiters hustling to rock music; the bar is on the left…..

The menu…..

First course, Royal Miyagi Oysters from British Columbia, with kombu mignonette…..

Beef tendon, with beets, mustard seeds and chicharon…..

Crispy pig ear ssäm, with yusu kosho, umezuki and Thai basil…..

Steamed buns with pork belly, hoisin sauce, cucumbers and scallion…..

Grilled quail with pineapple, spaghetti squash and vadouvan…..

Market greens with XO sauce…..

Momofuku Milk Bar- after dinner, we hopped around the corner to the Milk Bar which sells cookies, pies, shakes, ice cream and other treats…..

Their famous Crack pie which is being trademarked…..

Inside is a very sweet and tart lemon pie…..

Treats before bedtime…..

Fine bits of pineapple and coconut in a very delicious truffle…..

It was a very savory dinner which emphasized more towards the meaty appetite. There are only two vegetable items on the menu (pickles and market greens). So, this place will not make a herbivore very happy. I also notice there are Milk Bars located adjacent to other Momofuku’s, which is convenient for patrons for taking out sweet treats. I’d sure come again to the Ssäm Bar and try their duck cuisine on my next trip!

Momofuku Ssäm Bar | 207 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003 | (212) 254-3500 | momofuku.com